County needs $20M for capital repairs, has only $16M

Mark Moran/Staff Photographer Elevators inside the Luzerne County Courthouse malfunctioned in May, disrupting court proceedings. The county, with more than $400 million in debts, needs $20 million for improvements.

Luzerne County’s infrastructure is crumbling.

Nearly 20 roads and bridges are in need of major repairs, the roof of the Wilkes-Barre Wyoming Valley Airport “leaks like a sieve” and workers at the county’s human services facility must cover their computers with plastic to protect them from water damage, Tanis Manseau, the county’s operational services division head, told Luzerne County Council at a meeting Tuesday night.

Already this year, the courthouse elevators broke down in May, disrupting court proceedings, and the Division Street Bridge between Wilkes-Barre and Hanover Township collapsed into Solomon Creek in June.

Failing infrastructure contributes to more than $20 million in much-needed capital improvements, administrators reported. As of last week, the county has $16 million left in unused capital funding for improvements. What officials decide to do with that money is particularly significant because of the county’s financial state: Saddled with more than $400 million in debt incurred by borrowing that destroyed its credit rating, the county government is unlikely to get any new loans for the foreseeable future.

“We have $20 million in projects and you have $16 million to spend, and I don’t envy your task,” county Manager Robert Lawton told council. “That represents the full extent of our capital funds. We’re not going to be running out and borrowing anything anytime soon. Any dollar you spend here — unless it generates savings that allow us to put it back toward the bond fund — it’s gone.”

Recommended improvements call for $3 million for Moon Lake Park, which has seen its infrastructure gutted by vandals. The $3 million price tag will provide for plumbing, potable wells, road repairs and electricity — but it would not include renovations of any facilities.

It would also require about $300,000 per year for security to ensure the improvements are not gutted once more.

“If we’re going to put this stuff back, we have got to have a way of protecting it,” Manseau said. “We’ll have to have it full-time. I mean, let’s face it: Anybody who’d come in and cut down the power poles to steal the (energized) copper off of there isn’t afraid of much.”

The Luzerne County Recreational Facilities Advisory Board has recommended council turn the 650-acre park in Plymouth Township over to the state, which has more resources to maintain it. Councilman Rick Williams wondered if the county should first determine whether to follow that course before investing millions in a park it might give away.

Lawton noted park amenities would likely remain fairly rustic under state ownership and that the county investment would likely produce the same result.

“We would spend $3 million to essentially get the park to the same kind of state that we would hope to negotiate with the commonwealth,” Lawton said.

The manager agreed to enter into negotiations with the state and report back to council with specifics about how such a transaction might work, noting the park is collateral for two $20 million loans.

Pointing out additional borrowing is unlikely, Councilman Jim Bobeck questioned whether council should leave a contingency fund for other infrastructure improvement emergencies that might arise in coming years.

Lawton responded that a few million dollars will remain unspent until 2017 under the recommended improvements and that money could be thought of as a contingency if more pressing needs arise. He also noted that in the past capital funds have been fully committed “to keep people from being tempted to make bad decisions with money that can only be spent once.”

Other suggested improvements include:

• $2.37 million for interior dome plaster and gilding repair at the courthouse.

• $2 million to replace the Division Street Bridge.

• $1.45 million to buy and renovate a record storage facility. The county currently pays about $8,000 per month to rent storage space at the Thomas C. Thomas warehouse, which is not climate controlled.

• $1.1 million to install a voice-over Internet protocol telephone system that will cut the $400,000 annual bill the county now pays for its land lines.

Council committees are set to review the proposals over the coming month.

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